Jorge Rafael Videla
DARK PAST: The Libertad came to New York as part of the Tall Ships events to commemorate the US Bicentennial, but its presence and that of Argentinian dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who ousted former President Isabel Peron, sparked protests because of alleged tortures that took place onboard. (Bolivar Arellno)
That’s Capt. Singer to you!
New York hedge-fund titan Paul Singer gets to keep the prized Argentine naval vessel seized last week as partial settlement of a $1.6 billion court judgment, a Ghana court ruled yesterday.
In handing the ship over to a unit of Singer’s Elliott Management fund, the court — which shocked the world when it ordered the ARA Libertad be detained — rejected Argentina’s claim that the military vessel is sovereign property immune to seizure.
“The order [to detain the ship] was properly and validly made,” judge Richard Adjei-Frimpong said in the 25-page ruling.
The judge ordered the three-masted tall ship to be detained at port in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, pending bond or appeal.
It likely makes Singer the first hedgie to possess his own naval fleet.
Singer has been on a years-long global quest for Argentine assets to settle the $1.6 billion court judgment — tied to defaulted Argentina bonds held by his NML Capital unit.
Singer bought the bonds for pennies on the dollar leading up to the country’s 2001 default.
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement late yesterday decrying the ruling as being out of touch with the rest of the world.
The ministry called the seizure “illegitimate” and said Argentina “will not give [its] sovereignty to vulture funds.”
Singer has asked Argentina for $20 million to return the historic ship, an offer that was refused, a source with knowledge of the case told The Post.
If Argentina contests the ruling and the case goes to trial, the asking price could go up, this person said.
The judge has asked the two sides to try to hammer out a deal in the meantime, a person close to the case told The Post.
If the case goes to trial, it will rest on the issue of whether Ghana will allow a country to waive its sovereign rights — an issue that has been untested there.
In the US, military vessels are protected even if a country waives immunity.
In court, Singer’s lawyer, Ace Ankomah, argued that Argentina “irrevocably waived” its immunity in the bonds it issued to NML.
He said the only exception was with assets located within Argentina.
“It stands to reason that once they moved it [the ship] out of Argentina, it became fair game,” he said.
The ship, which was built in the 1950s, is estimated to be worth some $10 million. It has a storied history, including a period in which it was known as the “blood ship” because of tortures that took place there during Argentina’s “Dirty War” period in the 1970s.